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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Apr 10, 2007 - 06:45pm PT
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RE:
Off White
"I originally traded Ray Olson some PNW wild fungus for these puppies down in JT when I forgot to pack my EB's on a road trip."
Oh man you still have those dude! I lit up half of hidden valley campground with that fungus - funny man! Dimitri, The Kid, Watusi man we were ALL well fueled for a while. Oh my god.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Apr 10, 2007 - 06:55pm PT
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so, one day I'm in Hidden Valley campground with one pair of Fire's left. I walk over by intersection rock and just sorta stand there a while. A small white car pulls up with four guys inside. I walk up, go "hey, anybody need some Fire's?"
Guy inside goes "what size?"
I say, "dude, eight and a half"
Whole car breaks out laughing...comments like "unreal" were heard.
These guys had driven out from somewhere back east man, and they'd tried every shop on the way to JTree looking for size eight and a half.
Guy gets out, I hand 'em the shoes, wham bam cash in hand I had money for another week.
That happened twice selling Fire's.
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 10, 2007 - 07:08pm PT
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I can't wait to get some Fires. When are coming out? I hear two cats named Bachar and Grahmicii are going to be selling them.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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Apr 10, 2007 - 07:16pm PT
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Is Werner having past life experiences again?
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Chaz
Trad climber
So. Cal.
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Apr 10, 2007 - 07:18pm PT
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How many people have had hummingbirds buzz the red laces while hanging out on a belay?
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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Apr 10, 2007 - 07:31pm PT
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Here’s a bit more of the “what if..” inspired by Oli (Hey, Welcome Back).
I was resoling in the 70s. Inspired by Bruce Cooke, I was trying a lot of different material. I’m sure Bruce
Was the first guy to use unusual soles on climbing shoes. He was using Nitrene, the green dot Neoprene,
Chemigum, a black work shoe Neoprene and others.
I really dug Nitrene and put that on a lot of shoes, also the green Neoprene. One of the cute things about
The work shoe soles is that they are loaded with slogans, e.g. non-marking, oil resistant, long wearing.
I put EB soles on Kronies, I even put All-Star soles on my Directissimas. I had seen a blown tire which
Seemed promising.
So, in 1977, I was touring the pits at the Long Beach Formula One race and looked at some mounted tires.
I poked my fingernail into a (very sticky) tire and saw that the mark didn’t just disappear (spring back).
I thought it would be just too OOZY and not hold its integrity. IDIOT, FOOL, IGNORAMUS!!!!!!!!
Yeah, I know that the Gallegos or whoever it was used airplane tires, not racing car tires, but the key
Is that they used high hysterisis (LOW BOUNCE) rubber. Much better interlock with the texture of the rock.
Why wasn’t I out there on Formula One sticky rubber five years ahead of everybody else?
I’ll be the first to say that I never would have been able to run with it and turn out a real product. But still…
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 10, 2007 - 08:16pm PT
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Tried my brand-new Fires out for the first time on Future Shock, Whitehorse Ledge. Yow, what a difference they made! If you picked one pitch as your demo for selling sticky shoes, that would be a fine one to choose.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Apr 10, 2007 - 08:28pm PT
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Yeah Chiloe,
there was this glass smooth slab out at Deerhorn in SD, it had three bolts and I rated it 10A. In Fire's we all soloed it - like 5.6 apron smooth granite.
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the museum
Trad climber
Rapid City, SD
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Apr 10, 2007 - 09:50pm PT
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I just figured out why Frank calls me the museum.
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diablo
Trad climber
sd,ca
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Apr 10, 2007 - 11:38pm PT
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Nothing but positive praise to the Fire Engineers.
Thank God that I had a Bro like Raydog to give me the up on the shhheeet that was on the down for rubber.
I remember the orgasmic experience of first time smear edge combo , the toe into 1.5" crack and joy of "relaxing" at the belay( with shoes on)
Sweet, super sweet.....
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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Dec 25, 2012 - 03:17pm PT
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(Blitzo)
John Bachar testing the first pair of Fires on The Bead, Lower Cathedral Rock. 1982.
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Dec 26, 2012 - 11:04am PT
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Chiloe- Future Shack sure got a lot easier ? It was pretty smooth in EB's and kinda easy in the new rubber.. half grade easier ?
"Older" friends have told me that when EB's came out, they were pretty revolutionary as well.. SO much better than Pa' and such.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Dec 26, 2012 - 03:29pm PT
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First weekend I got my hands on these things I went up and led Bircheff-Williams. Yowza, what a difference. More advancement than PA-EB's and even Fire's to Stealth I think.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Dec 26, 2012 - 04:05pm PT
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One of my climbing partners, Richard Leversee called one day and said, "You've GOT to buy a pair of these! They'll lower the grade of a route instantly."
It's funny, but I felt the same way about Fires, but also about PA's and, particularly, EB's. We used to call them EB Super Cheaters, because Apron climbing seemed so much more secure in them.
Like Scuffy, I was inspired by Bruce Cooke to experiment with different sole materials. I had one of my favorite pairs of PA's (I went through several) re-soled with a neoprene compound, and they could smear like crazy, and still hold a decent edge, although not as good as a "standard" PA. I thought I was onto something until I used them on Bircheff-Williams in 1973, and basically wore out the soles before I got to the "U-Shaped Bowl." I wish I could say that's why I didn't lead it free, but the real reason was fear and sloth.
Anyway, I still use my Fires for long climbs -- particularly with OW's -- but sold out to modern technology. I had them re-soled with C4.
John
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Dec 26, 2012 - 04:15pm PT
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I was kind of out of the climbing scene when Fires showed up (though climbing in Spain in 1980 I saw some). But I remember when the first batch of EBs showed up in Portland in maybe 1972? (a friend of mine worked at the Alpine Hut, which wasn't much of a climbing store - but he fenangled the owner into special ordering a bunch.). Game changer completely. I think even more than Fires.
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Dec 26, 2012 - 04:46pm PT
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The original Fires were via the Gallego brothers ?? Spain. At least as I remember.
Anybody remember galibier Contacts ???? Now there's a painful shoe
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Dec 26, 2012 - 09:03pm PT
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The Galibier RR, the Robbins Boots, were granted the title "God Boots" by Larry Horton at TNF on Telegraph. He had graduated from kletters and gave me a pair. I liked them for free, of course, but preferred the Brown Shoe, the Rene Desmaison, as it had better friction qualities PLUS a stiff enough shank for using in slings.
THEN the EBs came and upped our talent. THEN the Fires came and did the same. I like the way Fires fit my feet, but they are misery in aid slings, they are just too narrow in the arch and shank, but they aren't designed for standing in slings, essentially, so I just suffer if that's called for.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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Dec 27, 2012 - 11:46am PT
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I see some surprising dates posted for when EBs "came out."
When I bought my first climbing shoes in August 1971, I had a choice
between PAs at $20, EBs at $25 or RRs (Robbins Boots, not the later EB-like
thing) at $30.
This was at Mountain Traders in Berkeley.
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Alpamayo
Trad climber
Chapel Hill, NC
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Dec 27, 2012 - 12:09pm PT
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I was trying to figure out what was my first pair of climbing shoes...I got them sometime in the mid-80's on a trip to Eldorado. I don't think they were any model of Fire's but they had the double lacing system similar to the Merrel Flashdance, with the second pair of laces going up and around the ankle. They were black and yellow high tops (one black lace and one yellow lace too) and for the life of me I have never been able to figure out what they were...any ideas?
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Dec 27, 2012 - 02:42pm PT
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The first mention I remember of EB's was in a Dolt ad in Summit in the late 1960's. Bill was selling them along with the "Golden Greenie" klettershoes.
In 1971 I got a pair of Bill Dolt Blue Boots, also from Mountain Traders in Berkeley. My roommate, Dan Smith, got a pair of EB's at the same time. The Blue Boots' sole seemed similar to those of EB's, but Chris Vandever thought they were the same as the Gollies sold in Britain by Ellis Brigham. I think Chuck Pratt had a pair of old PA's for sale a Mountain Traders around then (ca. 1971) that looked an awful lot like EB's because they were blue and grey, rather than the red and black of my many pairs of PA's.
John
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